Inca Empire
The Inca Empire was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. In the Forever Knight episode "Black Buddha, Pt. Two", Javier Vachon and his long-time foe, an Incan warrior, recount their story. Vachon had been a foot soldier with Pizarro's conquistadors when they first came to South America and encountered the Inca Empire. The warrior had waylaid him when Vachon was sent for reinforcements before a battle near Lake Titicaca. Expansion of the Inca Empire Andean civilization probably began around 7500 B.C. Based in the highlands of Peru, the ancestors of the Incas probably began as a nomadic herding people. Prior civilizations in the area have left no written record, so that it sometimes seems as though the Inca Empire appears from nowhere; but, in fact, the Inca borrowed architecture, ceramics, and their empire-state government from previous cultures. The first Inca ruler was Manco Capac. There is no specific date for this ruler nor for the seven succeeding rulers, but their assumed dates are 1250 A.D. to 1438 A.D.. The Inca Empire originated at Cuzco in the central highlands and expanded down the coast. The basis of their successful conquest is believed to be their organization. Their divine symbol was the sun god, Inti. Their bureaucratic system consisted of a circle of officials belonging to eleven royal ayllus, and the line of descent continued through incestuous marriage with a sister who becomes the coya or "legal queen." There were many local forms of worship through the conquered territories, but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of Inti. The Incas identified their king as "child of the sun." A far-reaching expansion of this early empire began in 1438 A.D. and lasted until 1533 A.D. The Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean mountain ranges, including large parts of modern Ecuador, Peru western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, north and north-central Chile, and southern Colombia. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cuzco; and the loyalty of the captured provinces was assured by taking the children of the local rulers back to Cuzco as hostages. However, they were taught about Inca administration systems, and then returned to rule their native lands. This allowed the Inca to indoctrinate the former ruler's children into the Inca nobility; as well, they married their own daughters into families throughout the empire. The official language of the empire was Quechua, although hundreds of local languages and dialects of Quechua were spoken. The Quechua name for the empire was Tawantinsuyu which can be translated as "The Four Regions". Before the Quechua spelling reform it was written in Spanish as Tahuantinsuyo. The empire was divided into four Suyus (provinces), whose corners met at the capital, Cuzco. Inca Society The Inca Empire was a patchwork of languages, cultures and peoples. The components of the empire were not all uniformly loyal, nor were the local cultures all fully integrated. The empire as a whole had an economy based on the exchange and taxation of luxury goods and labour. This social system required a severe authoritarian government backed by ritual and divine compulsion. The ruling class exploited the labor force in order to increase productivity. Inca society was based on the idea of "equal footing." All men must work in order to live. The Inca diet consisted primarily of potatoes and grains, supplemented by fish, vegetables, nuts, and corn (maize). Llama and alpaca meat and cuyes (guinea pigs) were also eaten in large quantities. In addition, they hunted various wild animals for meat, skins and feathers. Corn was malted and used to make chicha, a fermented alcoholic beverage. The Inca road system was key to farming success as it allowed distribution of foodstuffs over long distances. The Inca Empire was supreme in road building. The roads extended 3,250 miles from Quito in the north to Talca in Central Chile. They were vital to the maintenance of the empire; but ironically this network of highways made the Spanish conquest easier. There were road markers every topo (4.5 miles). Rest houses or tambos were built every twelve miles for the Inca ruler and his retinue. Small post houses called chasquis were placed every five miles to housed the runners who were used for relaying dispatches—at the rate of about 150 miles per day. Verbal dispatches were supplemented by quipu or knotted strings, probably involving a code based on numbers. These were the equivalent of the notched sticks of the old tally system used in Europe. Architecture was by far the most important of the Inca arts. The main example is the capital city of Cuzco. The breathtaking site of Machu Picchu was constructed by Inca engineers. They used a mortarless construction that fit together so well that a knife could not be fitted through the stonework. The stones were sculpted to fit together exactly by repeatedly lowering one onto another and carving away any sections on the lower stone where the dust was compressed. The tight fit and the concavity on the lower stones made the construction extraordinarily stable. Inca Army The Inca army was the most powerful in the area at that time, because they could quickly turn any ordinary villager into a soldier, ready for battle. This is because every male Inca had to take part in war at least once so as to be prepared for warfare again when needed. The Inca had no iron or steel. Their weapons were essentially identical to those used by the other peoples of South America—but strikingly inferior to those used by the Spanish. The Inca had: * bronze or bone-tipped spears * two-handed wooden swords with serrated edges * clubs with stone and spiked metal heads * woollen slings and stones * stone or copper headed battle-axes * bolas (stones fastened to lengths of cord). The armor used by the Incas included: * helmets made of wood, copper, bronze, cane, or animal skin some were adorned with feathers * round or square shields made from wood or hide * cloth tunics padded with cotton and small wooden planks to protect spine. Roads allowed very quick movement for the Inca army, and shelters called quolla were built one day's distance in travelling from each other, so that an army on campaign could always be fed and rested. They went into battle with the beating of drums and the blowing of trumpets. Spanish Conquest In July 1529 the Queen of Spain signed a charter allowing Francisco Pizarro to conquer the Incas. The conquistadors came to Peru in 1532 at a time when the Empire was overextended and under internal threat. There was unrest among newly-conquered territories; smallpox—which had spread from Central America—was cutting a swathe through the population; and the country had just gone through a period of civil war. After the death of previous ruler Huayna Capac, his sons Huáscar and Atahualpa (who were half-brothers) waged a war of succession for the Inca throne. Huáscar was of Inca blood on both sides, and therefore received control of the capital, Cuzco, on his father's death. However, Atahualpa commanded the imperial army in Quito, in the north of the empire. A lengthy civil war concluded with Atahulapa's victory. However, before he had the chance to rule over his empire, he was captured by the Spaniards Pizarro did not have a formidable force; with just 168 men, one cannon and 27 horses, he often needed to talk his way out of potential confrontations that could have easily wiped out his party. However, the Spanish horsemen, fully armored, with firearms and metal weapons, had great technological superiority over the Inca forces. The traditional mode of battle in the Andes was a feudal siege in which large numbers of draftees were sent to overwhelm opponents. The Spaniards were professional soldiers from one of the finest military machines of the period, with tactics learned in their centuries' long fight against the Moorish kingdoms in Iberia. As well, they allied themselves with the rulers of conquered territories, who sought to end Inca control. After Atahualpa was captured, he offered to pay the Spaniards a ransom of enough gold to fill the room he was imprisoned in, and twice that amount of silver. The Inca fulfilled this ransom, but Pizarro deceived them, refusing to release their ruler afterwards. During Atahualpa's imprisonment Huascar was assassinated elsewhere. The Spaniards maintained that this was at Atahualpa's orders; this was used as one of the charges against Atahualpa when the Spaniards finally decided to put him to death, in August 1533. ::Adapted from the Wikipedia article on the Inca Empire. Category:Flashbacks